Sand Trap
Saudi Arabia launched LIV Golf in a hostile takeover of the sport. Now it looks like the oil-rich nation can't afford to stay on course.
This Week In Blunders – April 11-18
“I am convinced that there was a direct line between at least some of the terrorists who carried out the September 11th attacks and the government of Saudi Arabia,” – former Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., who led a joint 2002 Congressional inquiry into the attacks.
The Saudis are not our friends, except when it comes to oil and money, and no one should expect to engage them in a friendly round of golf.
Saudi Arabia’s alleged complicity in the 911 attacks, its suspected funding of terrorists, its 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, and its long record of human rights abuses – these were all obvious red flags when Saudi’s public investment fund launched LIV Golf in 2022.
Nevertheless, some of the sport’s top players defected to LIV Golf, lured by signing bonuses and contracts reaching into the hundreds of millions. Some of these lauded pros even badmouthed the PGA Tour on their way out.
“We know they killed Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights,” said three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson. “They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”
All terror aside, we’ve got to worry about the future of golf? Mickelson later apologized for the remark, but the truth was clearly spoken.
LIV Golf sparked a civil war in the golf world, launching lawsuits, government investigations, fan outrage, and endless accusations that the Saudi’s were “sportswashing” their reputation. But oil money talks.
Other defectors included Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, and Bubba Watson.
Now they’re playing in the rough.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Saudi Arabia’s $900 billion Public Investment Fund is on the verge of pulling support for LIV Golf, which lost nearly $600 million in 2024.
The publication also reported that LIV Golf may have already missed a contractual payment to players in a piece titled, “They Sold Their Careers to LIV Golf. These Players Have No Idea What’s Next.”
LIV Golf has burned through more than $5 billon of Saudi Public Investment fund money and lately Saudi Arabia has been under fire from Iranian missiles – not exactly the safe, idyllic scene for a pro golf tour.
Who knew the game could fall apart this quickly? LIV Golf may one day be remembered as DIE Golf.
QVC rhymes with bank-rupt-cy
You’ve got to marvel as how companies announce their bankruptcy filings like they’re a great milestone in corporate history.
This week, it was QVC Group – which has been hawking kitchen gadgets, cheesy trinkets, jewelry and wrinkle creams on cable TV for decades:
"QVC Group is uniquely positioned to compete and win in live social shopping, and we are seeing early momentum in our WIN Growth Strategy," CEO David Rawlinson said in the release.
Um … sorry, shameless pitchman. Check your penny-stock price. No one’s buying it now.
QVC and its HSN, Home Shopping Network, have already missed the social shopping trend. Its aging customers are dying. Its younger customers have cut their cable cords. No one has time to watch this schlock.
That’s why QVC is saddled with $6.3 billion in debt.
But wait! There’s more. More debt, that is. Call now.
SantaCon “stole Christmas”
A guy who can convince thousands of people to dress like Santa Claus for a citywide bar crawl could be capable of anything.
Prosecutors say the founder of New York’s SantaCon was, in fact, a con.
This week, they charged Stefan Pildes, 50, with wire fraud. They allege he turned a boozy holiday free-for-all into a personal ATM, siphoning funds that were pitched as charitable donations into his own lifestyle. He has pleaded not guilty.
SantaCon raised at least $2.7 Million between 2019 to 2024, but Pildes diverted more than half of that amount into his own pockets, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges he put $365,000 of supposed charity money into a lakefront house renovation, $124,000 into a Manhattan apartment lease, $100,000 into a Costa Rican boutique, and $3,000 went toward a birthday dinner at a haughty restaurant.
“Pildes allegedly stole Christmas from tens of thousands of victims and deprived local charities of more than one million dollars,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle.
It looks like the jolly ol’ elf may have picked some pretty easy marks. People who believe in Santa Claus will believe anything.
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